Quarterly December 2008 - Odfjell

Odfjell avoids Gulf of Aden
Relieved crew
Following the 17 November decision,
many of our seafarers have expressed
great relief.
By: Margrethe Gudbrandsen
Odfjell decided
in mid November
that all it’s owned,
managed and
time-chartered
ships that
normally would
sail through the
Gulf of Aden
should be routed via the Cape of Good
Hope. - We will no longer expose our
crew to the risk of being hijacked and
held for ransom by pirates in the Gulf
of Aden, says Terje Storeng.
- Unless we are explicitly committed
by existing contracts to sail through
this area, we will re-route our ships
around Cape of Good Hope. We trust our
customers will appreciate this decision
which we have taken to safeguard not
only our crews and ships, but also the
ships’ cargo. The re-routing will entail
extra sailing days and later cargo
deliveries. This will incur significant
extra cost, but we expect our customers’
support and contribution, says Storeng.
Piracy is escalating
By today, more than 90 ships have been
attacked, against total of 23 last year. Of
these, 36 ships were hijacked outside
the coast of Somalia, and in particular
the Gulf of Aden. Approximately half of
the hijacked ships are chemical tankers.
- Several chemical tankers have been
hijacked at gunpoint, and although
reportedly hostages until now have been
released apparently unharmed, we do
not know if this will be so in the future,
says Storeng.
The very same day that Odfjell
announced the re-routing, the VLCC MV
Sirius Star was hijacked 450 nautical
miles southeast of Mombasa in Kenya,
according to the US Fifth Fleet. This
is far beyond 2-250 nm off the coast
previously assumed to be safe passage.
The Sirius Star is three times the size of
an aircraft carrier and is carrying its full
complement of two million barrels of
crude oil, worth at least USD100 million.
By this capture, the pirates showed the
world what they were capable of.
- Our experience is that the pirates are
well organized and well equipped, says
Toralf Sørenes, VP Risk Management
and Company Security Officer in Odfjell.
And he continues: society has the
impression that the pirates come in
small dinghies and seem harmless.
These pirates operate in small and
very fast boats coming from motherships
with modern navigation and
communication systems which make it
possible to coordinate the attacks and
to operate effectively far from shore.
In addition, the pirates look like the
numerous fishing ships operating in the
area and this further complicates the
picture.
Wants naval escorted convoy
Today several different naval forces
patrol this area. The air and navy units
in the area are under the command
of several entities including NATO,
EU, Coalition Forces participating in
Enduring Freedom and nations like
India, Russia and others. A strong,
clear and common mandate plus better
co-ordination and a more effective use
of these units remain apparently still a
challenge. - We are frustrated by the
fact that governments and authorities
in general seem to take a limited
interest in this very serious problem.
The efforts that are being made do not
seem to put an effective end to what
can best be described as ruthless, high
level organised crime, says Storeng. He
believes that action should be taken by
United Nations, as this area represents
international waters. – Several security
companies have offered their services,
but we oppose to have weapons
onboard, says Storeng.
Odfjell will when sufficient action is
taken to prevent attacks resume sailing
through the Gulf of Aden and the Suez
Canal.
Freight cost and insurance cost
increases
Shipping analysts say the freight
cost will rise following the attacks as
charter rates and insurance premiums
increase. Lloyds has already announced
that they will increase the insurance
premium on ships operating in this
area, Tor A. Svelland said in an interview
with Dagens Næringsliv. The area is
also now defined as a war zone, which
also means that shipping companies
passing through this area will have
to pay an extra war risk insurance.
Extra insurance on the cargo comes in
addition.
More will follow
Odfjell, by taken this action of
re-routing, has taken the lead and
hopes other shipping companies will
follow and put pressure on national,
international and governments. For
the time being the shipping companies
Dorval, BW Gas, Maersk and Swift have
decided to follow Odfjell’s decision of
re-routing around Cape of Good Hope.
Frontline is considering it – But we hope
and expect others to follow. We have
a joint responsibility and interest of
putting an end to this, says Storeng.
- It was with great relief and respect
we got the message last Monday that
Odfjell, as owner, would stop passages
through Gulf of Aden until the situation
regarding piracy there is settled. Like
announced earlier I, my officers and
crew have been very concerned about
the situation in Gulf of Aden, there
have been many questions raised and
honestly many of them have been hard
for me as Master to answer for.
I have been very concerned for the
safety of my crew, vessel, cargo,
environment, etc. The decision Odfjell
took pays a lot of respect, that of our
owner takes the safety and security of
their crews, etc. so important makes
us all proud to be working for such a
good and serious employer. Once again
thanks a lot from my officers, crew and
myself for this decision, says Dag Inge
Bogdanoff, Captain on Bow Sky.
Pirate attack on
M/T Bow Cedar
M/T Bow Cedar was attacked by
pirates in Gulf of Aden early morning
29 September. The Master on Bow
Cedar, Bjarne Kalland reports how they
experienced the attack. - A speedboat
with 5 persons onboard started to
trail the ship. After some time, an
eastbound naval ship with helicopter
on the poop deck passed on the port
side. When this naval ship had passed,
the speedboat slowly started to close in
on the starboard side, until it suddenly
charged directly towards the ship at
high speed.
At this time Bow Cedar clearly
demonstrated awareness using
its water canons. In addition other
appliances were used to deter the
hijack attempt. No arms were fired,
and the boat stopped. After lying
dead in the water for some time it
headed against a ship coming behind
Bow Cedar. - No alarms were heard
so obviously the other ship was also
prepared and the attack abandoned.
The warship with helicopter passed an
hour earlier, so apparently the pirate
boat waited until this was clear. No
arms were fired and no crew injured
during the attack.
This article is written the 21 November.
As there is a lot happening on this issue,
the article might not be updated when
Quarterly is published.
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